By STEPHANIE BUNKER
Moapa Valley Progess
The 4th annual Logandale Fall Festival is coming up this weekend, and crowds from all over the country are expected to visit this little community to be part of the festivities. The festival will begin on Friday October 20 and run for 3 days through Sunday, October 22. Festival hours are from 10:00am-7:00pm on Friday, 10:00am -9:00pm on Saturday, and 10:00am -3:00pm on Sunday. Kids 12 and under have free entry into the festival. Ticket costs will be $10 on Friday, $12 on Saturday, and $8 on Sunday. A 3 day pass is only $21.
“We needed another big event at the fairgrounds,” said festival founder Rik Eide of Logandale. “We had the Bluegrass Festival for years before it went away. I thought it was the perfect venue to bring the bluegrass back and build a family festival around the music.”
There will be plenty of entertainment for families during the 3 days of the festival. The Bluegrass bands that are set to perform are among the top bands in the country. Eide noted that these national known bands are bluegrass phenomenons. “The intricacy of their music is very cool,” he said.
The bands will be playing their music for most of the three days of the festival. Headliner bands include The Vintage Martins which is appearing with the renowned Ron Block of Alison Krause and Union Station. Also coming this year is the group Bluegrass Etc. with John Moore, Dennis Caplinger and Steve Sprugin.
But there will be a lot more bands performing at the festival as well. Eide said that bands are coming from Idaho Falls, Southern California, Texas, and a few from St. George and Cedar City.
The festival is also home to a nationally ranked BBQ competition sanctioned by the Kansas City BBQ Society (KCBS). This contest will qualify the winners for the World Jack Daniels BBQ contest in Tennessee.
Eide pointed out that Governor Brian Sandoval declared this Logandale Fall Festival BBQ to be the Nevada State Champion BBQ contest. There are a few entries that are competing for the practice of it, as they are already qualified to attend the world BBQ contest this year, Eide said. The prize money for this year’s contest totals $5,250.
As families listen to the bluegrass music and smell all the good food at the festival they can also meander into the Fine Arts building where they will find Halloween Town. This spooky side of the festival will hold a haunted house model, huge 5 foot pumpkin and Audrey the 2nd from the movie Little Shop of Horrors that visitors can take photos next to.
There will be around 60 vendor booths to browse through with a big variety of things to shop for. Eide likes to call this section ‘Crafts and Stuff’ since there are no specifications on what kind of items are sold.
There will also be about 10 food vendors ranging from Mediterranean to BBQ. Another attraction will be the John Deere tractors and antique motors that will be on display. Ken Garth Ford will be in attendance with pickup trucks and campers on exhibit. 4-H is doing a small animal show called the 3 Little Pigs Barnyard and they will have activities for kids such as painting pumpkins.
Despite the national groups brought in for the festival Eide wants to make this a community friendly event. He encourages local vendors and volunteers to be a part of the festival.
Eide recognized the Moapa Valley Revitalization Committee as an invaluable partner in supporting and providing volunteers to the festival. He welcomes any in the community that would like to help or volunteer with the event.
